The Sunday Times increased its year on year circulation in August, for the second month running.

News International's Sunday quality gained 0.72% year on year to record a sale of 1,164,831 last month, although this was 2.19% down on July's figure. The Sunday Times's bulks figure was a comparatively small 18,757, while 66,740 copies were sold abroad.

The Observer's circulation dropped by more than 9% last month after it abandoned bulk distribution.

Last month the paper, part of the group that publishes MediaGuardian.co.uk, sold an average of 361,761 copies, down 9.18% and 36,569 copies on July's sale, according to the latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations published today.

In July, 12,574 copies were distributed as bulks, sold at a discount and picked up free by air and rail travellers or hotel guests.

Last month's sale – which included 38,412 copies sold outside the UK and Ireland – also represented a 12.03% fall on August last year, when 27,374 copies were sold as bulks.

The biggest year-on-year fall last month among the Sunday qualities was recorded by the Independent on Sunday, which sold an average of 160,809 copies, 18.27% fewer than last year. This was, however, a 0.26% improvement on July.

Bulks accounted for 35,577 of the Independent on Sunday's circulation, with another 42,931 made up of overseas sales.

The Sunday Telegraph dipped below the 600,000 mark, selling 0.56% less than in July with an average of 599,131. This was a 3.17% drop on August last year. The paper distributed 67,387 bulks and sold 40,624 copies each weekend on average overseas.

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